We'll See How Serious Senate Dems Are About Blocking Bennett Tomorrow

Because Mitch McConnell is trying a maneuver that requires unanimous consent to accelerate the confirmation process, which means that only one senator objecting would require him to bring back the whole Senate, including those Senators quarantining after their exposure to Covid-19.

If the Democrats are serious about stopping her, and my guess it that they are NOT, they can throw a monkey wrench in the plans of Mitch McConnell and his Evil Minions^™.

They won't of course, because they are worthless cowards:

The first rule of Democratic Fight Club should be: Don’t ever do what Mitch McConnell wants you to do. On Monday, we will see if Senate Democrats understand that rule yet. They will have a rare opportunity to use their power to try to complicate McConnell’s plan to confirm Donald Trump’s third Supreme Court nominee, Amy Coney Barrett.

………

Here is the basic summary of what’s going on: Democrats have the power to potentially block McConnell’s attempt to maintain maximum control of Senate proceedings in order to keep their Supreme Court confirmation plan on track. That scheme was outlined in a McConnell press release yesterday saying he wants to secure a consent agreement to temporarily adjourn the Senate.

McConnell wants this adjournment resolution because keeping the chamber open might allow Democrats to use the normal legislative process — as they recently did — to complicate the GOP’s plans while Republican senators are either campaigning for reelection or under COVID quarantine (three have already tested positive for COVID, and there is evidence that a number of GOP senators could have been exposed to the virus).

Adjournment also would allow Republicans to stall any potential progress on a pandemic relief package for the next two weeks.

If Democrats are able to vote down McConnell’s adjournment resolution, they could use their leverage to demand an adjournment resolution that defers the Supreme Court confirmation hearings and moves forward a pandemic relief package. At the very least, they could force Republican senators to leave the campaign trail and stay in Washington to cast procedural votes — which would only help Democratic senate candidates in their races.

………

The key thing to understand is this: McConnell desperately wants unanimous consent for his adjournment resolution, because he doesn’t want to force Republican senators to fly back to Washington to actually cast votes — and because of both the election campaign schedule and the COVID outbreak, he doesn’t have a clear sense of how many could actually make the journey. That uncertainty potentially gives Democrats the power to block McConnell’s adjournment resolution. As long as a majority of senators present are Democrats, they could vote it down.

It also adds days to the time required to make this motion, and any delay plays to the advantage of the Democrats.

I get that they have some fondness for the "collegiality" of the Senate, but, as been shown over the past at least 20 years, collegiality is a one way state, and never inconveniences the Republicans.

Shut it down.

………

In this particular case, if Democrats deny McConnell unanimous consent, vulnerable GOP senators in key battleground states may have to leave the campaign trail, because Republicans would potentially need every vote they have while three of the party’s senators are out with COVID. If Democrats gather enough of their caucus to the senate floor, they may be able to vote down an adjournment resolution on a roll call vote.

………

To be sure, Republicans’ reckless behavior in creating a COVID super-spreader event at the White House has turned the U.S. Capitol into a potential coronavirus hot zone right now (which is even more reason to halt the entire Supreme Court confirmation process!). Democratic senators going into that hot zone to try to procedurally stall Barrett’s nomination is not without some risk, even though masks and PPE can make the risk more manageable.

………

Of course, gumming up McConnell’s adjournment resolution is not a singular panacea. However, it can be one move in a larger series of maneuvers that makes it as difficult as possible for Republicans to get their way — and playing for time in such a fluid environment is critical.

For at least the past 30 years, the endless refrain of the Democratic Party has been, "We won't support organized labor, or stop subsidizing companies moving jobs overseas, or stop the banks from doing you like a drunk sorority girl, but think of the Supreme Court."

Well, your excuse for not doing sh%$ has been called.  Your butt needs to cash this check that your mouth has been making for decades.